


it was different this time

by readwrite_coffee



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Harley Keener, Big Brother Harley Keener, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Harley Keener & Peter Parker Friendship, Harley Keener & Peter Parker are Siblings, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Hurt Peter Parker, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Nightmares, One Shot, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Harley Keener, Protective Peter Parker, This is kinda cute tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29902881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readwrite_coffee/pseuds/readwrite_coffee
Summary: Just a short one-shot of Harley and Peter being the most adorable brothers. I'm in dire need of more Big Brother Harley fics so I decided to write one cuz why not? :)
Relationships: Harley Keener & Pepper Potts, Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Mentions of Irondad - Relationship, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	it was different this time

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I’m back with a one-shot! I don’t want to try and make a plot for a multi-chapter fic yet because I’m not sure if I can update as frequently as I would like.   
> About this fic, first of all it’s been sitting in my drafts for *checks watch* forever 😅. Also, I don’t really see a lot of Peter & Harley fics, (as brothers not a ship) and it makes me sad :(  
> I love their dynamic in the fics I’ve read and I really hope Marvel has them meet in Phase 4!  
> Ok I’ll stop talking now, enjoy!

Peter has been trying to be ok. It’s just this week was messed up in every possible way. Little things that combined adding to the ever-growing baggage on his shoulders. May got sick and couldn’t come to the science fair he and Ned won first place in. Tony had to go to Tokyo for two weeks for some meeting that was deemed mandatory by Pepper. Flash was being extra annoying, calling him names and tripping him between every class. His grades were slipping because of his nighttime persona. Speaking of Spider-Man, he wasn’t doing too great either. In just one week, he’s lost at least a dozen people doing petty robberies, something he can usually take care of with his eyes closed. On top of all of that, he rejoined robotics and band because Tony had told him he needed to balance his school life and hero life. Peter could balance a lot, but doing all of this with maybe two to three hours of sleep a night, if that, was getting to him.

“Mr Parker!” 

Peter’s eyes fly open and he fixes his tired stare on his teacher who looked...absolutely livid. “Yeah? Sorry.” 

“This is the fourth time I’ve called your name. You can not sleep in my class Peter.” She says sternly. His teacher walks up to his desk and slaps a pink slip down on it. “Detention.”

Peter looks down and nods. Perfect.

Ned and MJ look at him in pity. They knew he was juggling more than he can handle. They knew it wasn’t his fault. Peter couldn’t stand the pity. He looks to the clock, just as the bell rings. 

“Alright class, homework is chapters 14 and 15. I want detailed notes on both, with the worksheets I gave you, turned in by tomorrow.” the teacher drones. As soon as she’s done talking, Peter is the first one out of the room. 

“Peter!” Ned calls, running to catch up with him.

“Hey man.” Peter says, walking towards the cafeteria.

“Look I can send you my notes and the worksheets. Just take it easy today.” Ned says, his concern evident on his face.

Peter looks at his friend gratefully but shakes his head. “Thanks man but I think I got it. I don’t have band practice and I’ll try to wrap tonight up early.” 

Ned sighs and nods. His friend was always so keen on doing everything himself. 

“Ok. Just call if you need your guy in the chair ok?” Ned asks.

He nods as enthusiastically as possible and watches as Ned walks to the car line. Peter walks through the cafe and into Mr. Harrington’s classroom, putting the pink slip on his desk and sitting down at a table.

Might as well get some homework done. 

  
  


~●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○~

  
  


Peter sprints out of the school and into the street. He ducks into an alleyway and changes as fast as possible, webbing his backpack to the wall. He presses his fingers into the headache culminating between his eyes and breaths in deeply. No screwing up today. Webbing himself up to his usual spot on top of the fire escape, he looks down on Queens hoping to be graced with a fairly uneventful day. Of course, it didn’t take long for Karen to inform him that a robbery was taking place 7 blocks down.

“Alright Karen. On it.” Peter mumbles, hoisting himself up and swinging in the direction Karen pointed him towards. He lands in front of the petty thieves and gives them a fake smile they can’t see. “Ya know there are better ways to get money, guys.” Peter says, shooting webs at their feet. Two of them go down but the guy on the left jumps dodging them and reaches into his back pocket. Peter swings onto a table to get a height advantage and tries again, when he runs out of webs. 

“Wha-Karen! Backup webs!” Peter grunts as the guy comes at him. 

“Those were your backups. I reminded you yesterday.” Karen replies. Peter breathes in sharply in frustration as the guy gets a good punch in. He’s dazed for a second and the dude slices his arm open. Peter retaliates and punches him in the temple, a bit harder than he intended. The guy goes down and Peter nods to the cops who had just arrived. Blinking the fatigue out of his eyes, Peter looks over at his upper arm. Great. That’s probably going to need stitches. 

After making sure the store owner is ok, he walks down to the abandoned alleyway and changes. Can’t stop crimes without webs. 

  
  


He makes his way back to the Tower and throws his suit on the couch. He throws some web fluid veils on top, promising himself he’ll replace them, and takes the elevator down to the med bay to get stitched up. After promising the nurse he’ll take it easy, Peter takes the stairs to the gym, hoping to blow off some steam.

  
  


Peter beats the bag relentlessly, yelling in defiance as he delivers the final blow. The seam of the bag bursts open and sand comes pouring out of it and onto the floor. Peter glances at his busted knuckles and shakes it off, ignoring the aching bruises combined with the pain of his skin splitting.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Hm?” Peter asks. He didn’t bother turning around. Instead, he chose to put up another bag. His fists were already screwed up right? Why not screw ‘em up a little more.

“Well, there’s gotta be a reason why you beat the shit out of that bag right? Come on, spill.” 

“It’s nothing Harley.” Peter snaps, turning around to fix the older boy with a glare.

Harley's eyes widen in surprise. Peter doesn’t snap at him very often. “Hey what the hell? Peter, what’s wrong with you?” 

“Just leave me alone.” Peter sighs. He was more than a little pissed off and would really like to avoid saying something he’ll definitely regret later.

Harley rolls his eyes and strides forward, grabbing Peter’s hand and glancing at his knuckles. “Jeez. Seriously?” 

Peter yanks his hand back, holding it on his other. “Whatever. It’ll be fine in like an hour.” 

“Doesn’t make hitting this thing until your skin splits ok.” Harley points out, kicking the ruined bag laying on the floor.

“Harley just go ok? I don’t need you antagonizing me for something this dumb.” Peter huffs, turning around to face the bag, ready to go again. 

“Hey.” Harley turns Peter around and fixes his no-nonsense glare on him. “You’ve been off all week. Come on we’re going to my room and you're going to tell me what the hell is going on. I gave you time to come to me and you didn’t.”

Peter allows himself to be dragged to the elevator, too tired to resist. He gives in and rests his head on Harley’s shoulder as the elevator travels upward toward his room. 

“I-I’m worried about you Pete.” Harley admits, his voice quiet. Peter’s eyes burn. He’s even making Harley worried about him. He knows how much pressure the senior is under, preparing for MIT while maintaining perfect grades and attendance in his extracurriculars. The last thing Peter wanted to do was to put more stress on Harley, who was basically his older brother at this point. 

  
  


~●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○~

  
  


“Im sorry Harl-I’m sorry for...shouting,” Peter says to his feet as they slip inside his room. The bed sags as Harley sits next to him, first aid kit in hand. He wordlessly starts to clean him up, wiping the blood off of the bruised skin and wrapping his hands with the soft white bandages.

“Can you move your fingers?” Harley asks. 

Peter flexes his fingers. “Yeah.” He confirms softly.

Harley looks up to the younger boy’s guilt-filled gaze and shakes his head. “Here’s something you gotta get straight. Everyone has bad days. Even you. Just because your Spider-Man doesn’t mean you have to be Mary Poppins all the time. You're allowed to have bad days Pete. It’s human.” Harley pauses. “But you have to open up. You have to let it out because if you don’t, it’ll pent up and after a while, everything will explode. Trust me I’ve been through it. S’not pretty.” 

Peter pulls a brown plush blanket around him and nods. He knows he's right. “It’s just...everything has been going to shit lately. I don’t know it’s like I can’t do anything right.” Peter says, his tone defeated.

Harley furrows his brows.

“Small things. They just keep adding up on top of each other and my anxiety kicks in. I haven’t slept in so long I-I can’t-'' Peter shakes his head, smushing his face into the blanket to hide the tears leaking out of his eyes. 

Harley scooches closer to him and wraps his arms around him. Peter moves his head to rest on the other’s chest, calming down to the rhythm of Harley's heartbeat and the soft hand threading through his hair.

“How long has it been...since you’ve gotten a full night's sleep?” Harley asks him seriously. 

Peter has to think. “Ahh depends on your definition of a full night.” He cringes. 

Harley shifts to look at him. “Meaning at least 6 to 7 hours Peter.” 

Peter exhales slowly. “A few months. The most I've gotten is 5. Most days it’s 3...maybe 4 hours.” 

“A few-” Harley cuts himself, dumbfounded. 

“I know-I know it’s not good.” Peter mumbles, knowing Harley was going to go off on him.

“Jesus Pete. How are you even functioning?” Harley asks. He gets up off the bed and flips off the lights and closes the door. “You're going to get some sleep.”

“No! Harley I have so much stuff to do. And I have tests tomorrow I don’t have time to-”

“Cut the bullshit Peter. You don’t have any hard classes tomorrow. You can do those tests in your sleep. Speaking of sleep, you need some.” Harley says pointedly.

Peter is silent for a moment. “Friday. Lights on to 10%.” He requests quietly, revealing his glazed eyes. Harley walks back toward the bed and sits, his confusion apparent in his expression. 

“There’s another reason I don’t sleep.”

  
  
  


~●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○~

  
  
  


“You were trapped under a warehouse?” Harley asks, trying to quell his sudden panic.

“Yeah…” He let out a long breath, averting his eyes.

“Does Tony know?”

Peter’s gaze snaps up to Harley’s. “What? No! Of course not! It would kill him. Harls you can’t tell him.”

“You realize he can just go through the baby monitor right?”

“But he hasn’t. And he has no reason to.” Peter defends. 

“Peter this is crazy. Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Harley asks, blinking angrily at him. God, what if something had happened? What if he was bleeding internally and didn’t know? What if he had died?

“I just did, didn’t I?” Peter points out, offering a smile devoid of happiness.

“I’m serious Pete. Any number of things could have been happening inside your body when it was put under that much stress.” Harley snaps.

Peter opens his mouth and closes it. “I know. I just didn’t want Tony to blame himself more than he already did. And I didn’t tell you cus we had only met like a few weeks before then.”

Harley sighs in reply and throws his head back onto Peter’s legs. “If-If I stayed here with you, could you get some sleep?” He asks tentatively. 

Peter rolls his eyes. “I’m not a baby Harl. I can sleep without a nanny.” 

God. Peter can be so stupid sometimes. “That's not what I’m saying and you know it.” Harley says dryly.

“Yeah.” Peter mutters.

“Besides. My sleep schedule hasn’t been the best either. It’ll be good for me too.” Harley says nonchalantly. He knows Peter was feeling guilty about this whole thing.

Peter sighs and nods, getting into the covers.

“I’ll be right back. Gotta make a call.”

  
  
  


_ “Hey May. It’s Harley.” _

_ “Harley! I haven’t heard from you in a while, is everything alright honey?”  _ Harley smiles. May always treated him as her own quickly after she found out about his and Peter’s close relationship.

_ “Yeah everything's ok. Ah, Peter isn’t doing all that well. He hasn’t been sleeping too much lately and it’s affecting him pretty bad.” _

_ “I knew something was off. He’s been acting weird all week.” _

_ “Yeah. I got a feeling too. Is it ok if we skip school tomorrow? I have a feeling he’s biting off more than he can chew. He could use a break May.” _

_ “Of course honey. I’ll call in for both of you. Thank you for telling me, you know how Peter is.” _

_ “Yeah, I do.”  _ Harley chuckles.

“ _ He’s lucky to have you Harley. He really does think of you as a brother.” _

_ “I’m the lucky one.”  _ Harley says softly. He hears a chuckle over the phone and smiles. 

_ “Ok honey. My break is over. Take care of him ok? And yourself, don’t forget that.” _

_ “I will. Thanks May.” _

  
  
  


Peter turns his head to see Harley slip inside the darkroom. “Who was it?”

“Don’t worry bout it.” Harley tells him. He gets on his knees at the foot of the bed, it dipping under his weight. He crawls forward in an awkward manner in order to lie his head down on the pillow. He tugs at the blanket Peter was definitely hogging and smiles as Peter moves with it, snuggling into his side. “You sure you're ok?”

“Mm,” Peter replies, letting out a content sigh.

“Ok.”

As Peter falls asleep, Harley reaches over him to grab the other’s phone, turning off the numerous alarms set for tomorrow. 

Won’t be needing those.

  
  


~●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○~

  
  


Sunlight is peeking through the window and through his eyelids. Harley groans and blinks the sleep out of his eyes. He opens them to find a very asleep Peter curled into him, an arm around his neck and torso. He tries to shift but Peter tightens his hold on him, mumbling meaningless words in his sleep. Harley lets out a rough laugh. Peter is so clingy.

Harley manages to resist the urge to just stay there until Peter wakes up, practically prying the younger’s limbs off of him. Peter frowns in disapproval but shifts to his other side, still asleep.

He shakes his legs awake and stands up grabbing his phone on Peter’s study table. 

2:17 PM?

Harley rubs his eyes and looks again. Great. He sighs to himself. At least Peter got the sleep he so desperately needed. He turns to examine his brother. Yup. The dark bags around his eyes had significantly softened, making him look more like himself again.

Harley stretches his arms and heads to the bathroom. He brushes his teeth with the new spare Peter kept in his drawer and washes his face _. I really needed the rest too _ , he admitted to himself.

“Morning Fri. Take me down to the kitchen please.” 

“Good afternoon is more accurate. Ms. Potts has requested me to tell you that 2 PM is not a beneficial time for teenagers to wake up.”

“Rude. And yeah wasn’t really planning to sleep in so late.” Harley replies as the elevator doors open. He smiles at Pepper who was sitting at the island, her paperwork spread out in front of her.

“Hi Pepp.” Harley says, walking over to her.

“Get some sleep?” Pepper asks, raising her eyebrow. Harley chuckles sheepishly.

“We needed it. Especially Peter. Let's just say he hasn’t gotten much lately.” Harley pauses. “I see May told you?”

Pepper nods. “And it’s fine. You boys need a break from school sometimes.” She says, trapping his head and pressing a kiss to his forehead. Harley hugs her and nods.

“Do you want me to make you boys something?” Pepper asks, getting up off her stool.

“No, it’s fine. I know you have a lot of work to do. I was thinking of making some pancakes for us.” Harley says, looking in the fridge, and pulling out the milk and eggs.

“Isn’t it a little late for pancakes?” Pepper asks, looking back at her laptop.

“It’s never too late for pancakes.” Harley shrugs, reaching up to grab the pancake mix.

  
  


Harley flipped the last pancake over onto the plate and sat on the stool. Peter ate enough to feed an army. They always had three or four people on breakfast duty a day due to the combined metabolisms of Thor, Steve, and Peter on top of everyone else. Unfortunately, the Avengers, with the exception of Tony, were all down in DC demonstrating their coordination as a team to newbies coming into SHIELD. The only ones left were him, Peter, and Pepper. 

“Peter seems to be in distress.” He had just cut up some watermelon slices when Friday interrupted the comfortable silence. 

Pepper immediately stands up, Harley already running towards the elevator. “I got it.” He nods at her. She nods and sits back down.

“Call me if you need me.” She calls as the elevator doors close. 

  
  
  


~●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○~

  
  
  


_ It was different this time. Peter gasps, looking at the fallen warehouse. This is familiar. Too familiar. He can almost feel the concrete digging into his back, the weight of it crushing his chest until he shifted enough to be able to breathe. But he wasn’t under it this time.  _

_ “Agh.” A quiet groan comes out of rubble. Peter’s heart stops. Someone’s in there. He sprints toward the sound coming to a stop right where... _

_ This was exactly where he was trapped. But instead of him it was- _

_ “Harley!” Peter’s voice breaks as he kneels down next to him. Digging his fingers under the concrete he lifts, concentrating every ounce of his strength to get this stupid piece of shit off of his brother.  _

_ “Peter.” A weak voice coming from beneath him causes him to stop, his arms trembling from the effort. “He got away. Vulture. You-you have to go after him.” Harley tells him, his eyes fluttering shut.  _

_ “I’m not leaving you Harl. End of discussion. I’m gonna get you out of here-just h-hold on.” Peter insists. He shakes his hands out and tries again. Come on Spider-Man. You’ve done this before, you can do it again.  _

_ “Pete. Please.” Harley gasps, his teeth stained with blood. Tears fall down his face as Peter shakes his head.  _

_ “No. I won’t.” Peter says weakly. “I won’t.”  _

_ “You gotta leave me here. Go.” Harley coughs, blood spilling from his mouth. “Go save the day.” He says giving Peter a small smile. _

_ “Please no. Harley please.” Peter pleads. He can’t do this. He can’t watch another member of his family die in front of him. He can’t.  _

_ But Harley’s no fool. He can feel his vision getting hazy and his shortness of breath. He knows Peter can hear the slowing of his heart.  _

_ “It’s ok.” Harley reassures him. Peter shakes his head, he refuses to do this. He tries again, lifting the concrete, crying as his muscles burn. He collapses again, the skin on his hands rubbed off and bleeding onto his suit.  _

_ “You’ll be ok.” Harley tells him, painfully stretching his neck so he can see Peter. _

  
  


_ The moment Harley's heart stops is the moment something dies within Peter that he knows will never be replaced. He’s had experience with this feeling, too many times for a teenager. The weight of the concrete structure suddenly weighs nothing. Peter lifts it off of the older boy’s crushed body and throws it away from them. He shifts Harley's body into his lap, at a loss. Completely numb. Tears continuously stream from his eyes, so much so that his eyes dry out, no longer able to produce more. This can’t be happening. _

__

_ Peter looks up to the dark overcast sky, anger and pain burning within his eyes, and screams.  _

  
  
  
  


~●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○°●○~

  
  
  


Peter jolts awake, mouth open in a silent scream. He untangles his legs out of the comforter and unceremoniously falls to the floor. Peter rushes to calm his rapid, unsteady breathing, reassuring himself that it was just a dream. As he begins to regain his posture, he hears an erratic heartbeat accompanied by the thud of footsteps as someone rushes into the room.

“Pete? You-” Harley pauses, breathing heavily as he steps into the room. “Ok?”

Peter looks up from his clenched hands, still half-dazed by the nightmare. “F-fine.”

Harley sighs and makes his way over to the younger boy’s side, sitting down next to him on the floor. Peter makes eye contact and Harley holds out his arms, inviting him in. Wiping his face on his shoulder, Peter wraps his arms around the older’s torso, resting his ear against Harley’s chest. He consoles himself with the steady beating, remembering the horror of hearing it stop.

“What is it?” Harley asks softly. Peter furrows his brows and looks up at him. “You shivered.”

“Nothing.” Peter shakes his head. 

“Tell me.” 

“No.”

Harley fixes him with a concerned stare. “It’ll help.”

“It won’t.”

“Have you tried it?” Peter falls silent. Harley glances at him before looking out the window at the passing vehicles.

“It was different this time.” He starts quietly. Harley looks over to see Peter fidgeting with his hands. “Usually it's always the same. Vulture tricking me and me being under that warehouse.” Peter stops, his eyes glazing over. 

“It was different.” Harley presses. Peter nods. 

“This time-this time it wasn’t me under there.” Peter turns his gaze away to focus on the view. Easier than looking at the concerned expression on the other’s face.

“Tony?”

Peter shakes his head. Harley tightens his hold on the younger boy, silently reassuring him. 

“It was you. And you died.” Peter shivers again, holding on tightly. 

Harley breathes out through his mouth. “Oh.” 

“I don’t know what I would do if-”

“Hey. I’m not going anywhere ok? You don’t have to worry about that.” Harley says, setting his hands into Peter’s hair and fidgeting with his curls.

Peter nods, looking back to the window. Harley senses the need for a subject change and looks over. 

“You wanna go get some...ah well- lunch? I made pancakes.” He smiles. Peter grins and nods, getting up and offering a hand.

“Let’s go before Pepper eats them all.” Peter smirks, running down the hallway, over to the elevator. 

Harley smiles, and runs after him. 

“Wait up!”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked it! I know I do Irondad way more than this but I love writing these two as brothers!! Also, Ima little rusty so if it's trash that's probably why lmao.  
> I seriously hope this tag gets more popular cus I’m running out of fics to read :(  
> If yall have ideas or requests I’m all for them so feel free to leave a comment :D  
> A kudos is appreciated as well!!  
> Have a great day :)
> 
> PS: HOLY SHIT THEY RELEASED THE NAME FOR SPIDERMAN 3 AND I'M HERE FOR ITTTTTTT!!!!! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW THE TITLE IS SPIDERMAN: NO WAY HOME!!! IM SOOO EXCITED!!


End file.
